


Leaves crumble

by fullmoontonightt



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Bellarke, Canon, Clarke comes back, F/M, Fluff, One Shot, Post Season 2, Reunion, bellamy is in love with clarke, bellamy misses clarke a lot, hug, it's kinda short and crappy, more of a ficlet, no reunion sex tho I'm sorry, what can I really say about this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-26 04:56:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3837895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fullmoontonightt/pseuds/fullmoontonightt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>He’d never thought of the trees as a border line before, as a place people vanished in.</em>
</p><p>  <em>At least not until he saw Clarke disappear into them.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Leaves crumble

 

The forest used to be one of Bellamy’s favourite places to be. He loved how the smell of the fresh air mixed with the natural scent of the pine trees, he loved walking across the uneven ground, losing his balance ever so slightly, he loved the sound of leaves crumbling underneath his boots, loved how the trees’ large intertwined branches seemed to play with the sunlight, creating all kinds of different patterns on the forest floor.

He’d never thought of the trees as a border line before, a border leading to a different part of the earth. Sure, he knew that technically they were, he’d traveled through them often enough to know that. He’d just never thought of them like that, as a completely different place instead of an extension of the camp. He'd never seen it as a place people vanished in, a place that would leave him behind.

At least not until he saw Clarke disappear into it.

Leaving him behind.

It’s not that he hates the forest now, he just can’t find it in himself to love it as deeply anymore. It’s become a constant reminder of the fact that he let Clarke walk out of his life. Because all he sees when he looks at the tall line of trees outside the camp is her disappearing into them.

He’d known about two hours after she left, the warmth of her lips still lingering on his cheek. Letting her go had been a mistake. She was needed here in camp. Her always clever advice and cunning leader abilities. Her medical knowledge and personal strength. But also her warmth, her love and friendship. She could give people hope in a way he never could.

And the longer she’d been gone, the more he realized it wasn’t just the camp that needed her. He needed her too.

\--

“I’m done, I’m going after her.”

Raven looks up from her worktable, which is covered with self drawn maps, tools and pencils, and he can see slight sadness in her eyes. “Bellamy it’s no use.”

“I should have never let her go.”

Raven sighs as she goes back to her work. “For the ten thousandth time Bellamy, no one is blaming you so stop blaming yourself. It was Clarke’s decision to leave, not yours.”

“It's a stupid decision.”

“Agreed.”

He steps forward, leaving his comfortable position against the wall, and starts pacing around the tiny room in frustration. Wick sits at another desk, also filled with mechanic tools and whoever knows what, and gives him a look of sympathy from across the room.

“Still, don’t you think we should do something?”

“What can we possibly do Bellamy? Randomly barge into the woods, hoping to find her? We both know you’ve already tried that and we both know it wasn’t a success.”

“I don’t know either Raven,” Bellamy says, frustration hearable in his voice, “maybe we could ask the grounders if she’s been there?”

“Yes, because Clarke would totally go to the grounders after what Lexa did to her.”

Bellamy can feel frustration and anger filling up his insides. He knows Raven doesn’t mean it like that, that she just uses sarcasm as a tool to help herself cope with missing Clarke and he knows that she’s frustrated too, he knows that they’ve had this conversation at least ten times already, he knows she cares just as much as he does. Yet he can’t help the words fumbling out of his mouth. “Don’t you care at all?”

She looks up at him, obviously shocked, and he can see her eyebrows twisting in anger. “I know you miss her Bellamy but don’t you dare take this out on me, you know how much I care. So don’t you dare.”

He sighs and allows himself to fall onto one of the bar stools at her desk. He mumbles out a genuine sorry and hides his face into his hands, feeling utterly helpless. He’d known that Raven was almost always right, but he hadn’t thought she could read into his emotions like that.

Because if she was right about anything, it was that he misses Clarke.

\--

Camp Jaha had officially become the most suffocating place on earth. Bellamy had thought it was bad before, when the official adults had set foot on the blue planet for the first time in their lives and already thought they knew all it secrets better than a couple of kids possibly could. But ever since Clarke’s exit it seems to have gotten worse than that. Abby is completely out of control, hiding her worry and fear behind a new set of strict rules she’s applied on the camp, hoping to keep them all together.

But honestly it was driving Bellamy away. Literally even, as he was now fleeing into the forest, searching for some undisturbed silence instead of the tense atmosphere at the camp.

The trees are like towers above him, they seem to stare down at him judgmentally, the wind racing through their branches with a whistling sound. Even the familiar sound of the fallen leaves crumbling underneath him seems different. Empty.

He sighs as Clarke enters his mind. What would she have to say about her mother’s drastic behavior? She’d probably blush in embarrassment and Bellamy smiles at the thought of Clarke with rosy cheeks. He knows she’d absolutely hate the new rules, but that she would respect them. Honour them even. Clarke knows that the leader position isn’t an easy one and would probably be proud of her mother no matter how bad she’d screw up.

Because Abby and Clarke have many similarities like that, Clarke knows she could have made the same mistakes. But Bellamy thinks that Clarke and her mom are different in a lot of ways, something he hadn’t always known. The first time he met her he’d thought Clarke was a direct copy of her mom, a spoiled little girl raised in a selfish world of power. Nothing had turned out to be less true.

Clarke was anything but selfish. She was..she was brave, filled with a strength and willpower that challenged his. And on top of that she has this kindness around her, this pure need to do good.

Bellamy can feel the mixture of disappointment and anger rising in his chest. God, why did she have to leave? And why did he let her? He angrily kicks a lost stone, sending it flying through the air until it hits a tree and falls down on the ground helplessly. He watches it lay there mindlessly, an emptiness filling up his insides.

That’s when he hears it.

The faint, but surely noticeable to the sharp listener, sound of old, rotting leaves crumbling. His heart speeds up in his chest, someone is there. He stands frozen, unsure of what to do, and listens carefully to the approaching stranger. The footsteps are becoming louder, easier to notice and easier to follow. He knows the stranger is close by when he catches the sound of heavy breathing.

Her breathing.

He spins around without thinking twice about it, not caring that the leaves crushing underneath his feet reveal his position, and steps into the clearing. Bellamy can feel his mouth falling open, can feel his heart racing, as he takes her in. It’s her, it’s actually her. As he takes in how her messy blonde hair is sticking to her forehead, how her piercing blue eyes are fixed on him in disbelief, he lets out a laugh, unable to control it, and runs towards her.

The smile that spreads across her face is enough indication for him to relentlessly throw his arms around her and pull her close.  A laugh rushes through his body that ends up in a smile at his lips as he feels the familiar shape of her body against his. He can feel her shake slightly in his arms and he secures his hold on her waist, wanting her to know he’s there. That he’s actually there. Her arms open up and wrap around him, her fingers grasping onto his shirt, and then she’s holding on for dear life. “Bellamy.”

“Clarke.” His voice sounds raw and emotional, not something he’s used to hearing from himself. Clarke lets out a muffled laugh and shifts further into his embrace. Bellamy feels his heart warm up in a joy he hasn’t felt in months. He sighs contently as he rests his face on the top of her head, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair.  He can’t believe this is really happening. He can’t believe that he finally has her back in his arms.

He only backs out of the embrace when he feels her shift out of it, desperate to cling to every moment  he gets with her, not wanting to lose her again. He can feel his eyes widen as he sees the state she’s in. How had he not noticed that before?

Her face is covered with slashes, the dark red blood barely dried up.  Her usual confident pose now an unsure one, trembling slightly as she looks up at him with watery eyes. His breath halts in his throat as he raises his hands and traces his fingertips over one of the wounds. She shivers underneath his touch and Bellamy swallows, trying to suppress his anger, as he realizes the slashes are deeper than he thought.

He looks up into her eyes, making sure to only show his worry. “What happened to you, princess?"

She huffs out a laugh, which sounds more like a hidden sob, and Bellamy can feel his chest heaven with worry. She shakes her head and looks up at him with a small smile. “I’m okay, Bellamy. I’m okay now. ”

Bellamy lets his eyes travel over her body one more time, not sure if he fully believes her, but can’t ignore the way he warmed up inside at her last few words. The slashes on her face are deep and might leave a scar, but he knows they'll heal. And as for her emotional state, he's pretty sure she'll be okay, she's strong. She might not be fully okay now, but she will be, he’ll make sure of that. He allows his hand to travel to hers and hears her surprised gasp as he lets his fingers curl around hers. He gives her a small supportive smile before turning and guiding her back to the camp, taking her back home.

And for the first time in what seems like forever Bellamy can finally feel comfort in the crumbling of the leaves again.  Turns out all he needed was Clarke’s footsteps alongside his.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Something I wrote way back when season two ended and never quite liked enough to upload. But here it is.
> 
> Well thanks for reading loves, seriously means the world (and so does commenting)


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